World Family Policy Center News
6/10/02
Volume 1, Issue 9
The following excerpts are highlights of current events and do not
necessarily represent the views of the World Family Policy Center or Brigham
Young University.
FROM THE WFPC
The
traditional family is the necessary foundation for (international) communities;
because it is the sanctuary where men and women learn cooperation, sacrifice,
love, and mutual support; it is the training ground where children learn the
public virtues of responsibility, work, fair play, and social interdependence.
International law and the family, therefore, are inextricably linked.
Disregarding this link places both the law and the families in peril.
--Richard
Wilkins, Managing Director
IN THE NEWS
CRITICS SLAM U.N. TREATY ON WOMEN'S RIGHTS (Click
to read the full article.)
Fox News
June 05, 2002
So
what's wrong with the idea of guaranteeing women equal rights? It's all in the
fine print, according to opponents of the agreement who see it as an attempt by
the U.N. to interfere with domestic U.S. politics.
"This
committee has reprimanded Mexico for having a lack of access to easy and swift
abortion, has reprimanded Luxembourg for 'promoting a stereotype of men being
the breadwinners of families,'" said Wendy Wright of the Concerned Women
for America, a Washington-based activist group. "It's like the Equal
Rights Amendment on steroids."
"It
reprimanded Italy for allowing doctors to not participate in abortions out of
conscientious objections," said Wright, "so this treaty goes far
beyond the idea of trying to stop discrimination against women."
U.S. TEENS' BIRTHRATE
LOWEST IN 6 DECADES (Click to read the full
article.)
The Washington Times
By Cheryl Wetzstein
The
overall teen birthrate — including all age levels and ethnic groups — fell to
its lowest level in six decades last year, marking the 10th straight year of
declines, the federal government said yesterday.
Teen-pregnancy
researchers say there are no clear reasons for the continuous decline, but have
higher levels of sexual abstinence among teens and better use of contraceptives
pegged to it.
"The
research shows us that when teens postpone parenthood, they improve their lives
and the lives of their children," said Mr. Thompson [Health and Human
Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson]
Still,
despite this downward trend, he said, "we must continue our efforts in
local communities to reach teens with the message that everyone benefits when
they wait until they are truly ready to start a family."
GAY COUPLE TEST THE LEGAL LIMITS WITH DUTCH MARRIAGE (Click
to read the full article.)
International Herald Tribune
By Elisabetta Povoledo ( Italy Daily)
June 07, 2002
The
gay couple chose to marry in the Netherlands because it is currently the only
European Union country that grants heterosexual and homosexual unions equal
legal standing. Garullo and Ottocento were the first foreigners to be married
in the country and they are the first gay Italians to legally wed.
But when the
happy couple flew back to their home in Latina, south of Rome, on Tuesday, they
returned to their status as de facto singles because Italy does not recognize
same-sex marriages.
Charging that
their lack of legal status denies them fundamental human rights, the couple is
about to challenge existing legislation in court. And in the eyes of many, they
have already become paladins against an unjust situation affecting all
unmarried couples, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Saturday's
wedding created quite a ruckus, particularly after Antonio Gagliardi, Latina's
chief prosecutor, said he considered the nuptial vows to be nothing more than
"a folkloristic gesture." He said he would object to Garullo and
Ottocento's attempts to register the union because it "opposed the
fundamental rights of our country and of our constitution, which indicate the
family based on matrimony as the natural foundation of our society."
AT THE UN
HIV/AIDS: CHINA FACES "DISASTER OF
UNIMAGINABLE PROPORTIONS," UNAIDS SAYS
(Click to read the full news brief.)
Last
year, China was praised for its acknowledgment of an HIV contamination scandal
in blood banks and its first HIV/AIDS conference. Now, AFP reports,
UNAIDS is accusing Beijing of a lack of openness in dealing with the problem,
an inadequate response and a faulty detection system that focuses mainly on
prisons and hospitals while cases elsewhere go unreported. It blames the
rapid spread of the disease on low awareness, migration,
poverty, prostitution, increasing sexual openness and low condom use.
TALKS ON WORLD SUMMIT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCLUDE IN
BALI
(Click to read the full news brief.)
7 June – Intense negotiations in Bali over the
past two weeks on an action plan to be adopted at the upcoming United Nations
World Summit on Sustainable Development have concluded with delegates unable to
agree on key issues relating to financing and trade.
The plan of
action under consideration in Bali will be one of the outcomes of the
Johannesburg Summit, where world leaders will also adopt a political
declaration. Friday afternoon, government ministers wrapped up their discussion
of elements for the declaration, stressing the importance of promoting respect
for human rights through the document, which should be clear, concise and
action-oriented. Many speakers also called for a coherent, forceful and
comprehensive commitment to action in implementing Agenda 21, the global
blueprint for sustainable development adopted a decade ago at the "Earth
Summit" in Rio de Janeiro.
If
you do not wish to receive a copy of WFPC News you may unsubscribe by sending
an email to listserv@listserv.byu.edu. The
subject should be left blank and the body should read, "Unsubscribe
wfpc-news".
Additional information and commands can be found at the ListProc homepage
at www.listproc.net/docs/index.html .
If you have any articles, editorials, or papers you would like circulated
through the WFPC News network, you may submit them to wfpc@byu.edu .